MessyBoard: Improving Collaboration by Decreasing Costs and Increasing Enjoyment Adam M. Fass Ph.D. Thesis Proposal August 6 th, 2003

2 Projects Demand Multiple People

3 Communication Has A Cost

4 Workplace Communication is not Enjoyable

5 People Do Not Communicate Enough Kraut et al Informal Communication in Organizations

6 Research Goals Decrease the cost of communication –More work-related communication Making communication enjoyable –More work-related communication –More casual communication –All else being equal, more enjoyment is good Small groups of workers (<30)

7 Approach Build a software communication medium

8 Approach Build a software communication medium Embed specific solutions to common problems

9 Approach Integrate the medium into people’s lives Build a software communication medium Embed specific solutions to common problems

10 Approach Integrate the medium into people’s lives Build a software communication medium Embed specific solutions to common problems Evaluate

11 Thesis Statement A communication medium based on the metaphor of a bulletin board with freeform layout of text and pictures can lower the cost of communication and make it more enjoyable.

12 Thesis Statement A communication medium based on the metaphor of a bulletin board with freeform layout of text and pictures can lower the cost of communication and make it more enjoyable. Integrated special-purpose solutions to common communication problems, such as scheduling a meeting, will encourage people to use the medium.

13 Thesis Statement A communication medium based on the metaphor of a bulletin board with freeform layout of text and pictures can lower the cost of communication and make it more enjoyable. Integrated special-purpose solutions to common communication problems, such as scheduling a meeting, will encourage people to use the medium. Projecting the medium on the wall, displaying it as a screen saver, or otherwise integrating it into people's lives so that they see it often and without much effort will further decrease the cost of communication and make it more enjoyable.

14 Thesis Statement A communication medium based on the metaphor of a bulletin board with freeform layout of text and pictures can lower the cost of communication and make it more enjoyable. Integrated special-purpose solutions to common communication problems, such as scheduling a meeting, will encourage people to use the medium. Projecting the medium on the wall, displaying it as a screen saver, or otherwise integrating it into people's lives so that they see it often and without much effort will further decrease the cost of communication and make it more enjoyable. A combination of iterative software design and testing, ethnographic observations, surveys and activity logs will provide evidence to support these claims and suggest design guidelines for similar communication media.

MessyBoard Demo

16 MessyBoard Architecture Client Server Client Internet Client

17 The Medium: MessyBoard

18 Reducing Costs Of Communication: 2D Space, Freeform Layout Referring to an object Grounding a conversation

19 Making Communication More Enjoyable: 2D Space, Freeform Layout

20 Reducing Costs of Communication: Freeform Drawing Could we make this window bigger and this window smaller? MessyBoard

21 Reducing Costs of Communication: Freeform Drawing Could we make this window bigger and this window smaller? MessyBoard

22 Reducing Costs Of Communication: Strict WYSIWIS, Finite Space

23 Reducing Costs of Communication: Mixed Media, Easy Import

24 Making Communication More Enjoyable: Mixed Media, Easy Import

25 Making Communication More Enjoyable: Visual Appeal

26 Reducing Costs of Communication: Content History

27 Reducing Costs of Communication: Content History

28 Reducing Costs of Communication: Content History

29 Reducing Costs of Communication: Content History

30 Reducing Costs of Communication: Content History

31 Scheduling a Meeting

32 Room 173 use: tues 3:30-4:30 wed 3:30-4:30 thurs 9:30-11:00 3:30-4:00 Scheduling Use of a Room

33 We are moving today’s meeting to 4:00 Sending an Announcement Adam Ben Desney Andrew

34 Integrating the Medium into People’s Lives Reducing Costs Go to office to talk Telephone Instant Message Voice Mail Scheduled Meeting InterruptionSetting Aside Time X X X X X X

35 Integrating the Medium into People’s Lives: Projection

36 Integrating the Medium into People’s Lives: Screen Saver

37 Integrating the Medium into People’s Lives Making Communication More Enjoyable

38 Other Ways to Integrate the Medium into People’s Lives

39 Reducing Startup Cost Stage3 MessyBoard

40 Related Work

41 Evaluation Is MessyBoard reducing the cost of communication? Is MessyBoard making communication more enjoyable? Do projection and screen savers lower the cost of communication?

42 Ethnographic Observation Study a few carefully selected groups Observe groups beforehand to establish a baseline Log activity Interviews with logs and screenshots

43 Activity Logs Wide distribution: at least 20 groups Logs of every event Manual coding may be necessary Augmented with surveys

44 Ethnographic Manipulation and Measurement

45 Ethnographic Manipulation and Measurement +

46 Ethnographic Manipulation and Measurement +

47 Ethnographic Manipulation and Measurement +

48 Ethnographic Manipulation and Measurement +

49 Concrete Measurements Notes per unit time Usage Patterns: time of day Number of people who use it Accuracy on recall quiz Response time Kinds of communication Linguistic Analysis Qualitative measures

50 Additional Research Questions What are the best ways to reduce the startup cost, and how does this affect adoption and long-term use? Can concrete communication problems be solved with special-purpose objects embedded in a freeform medium? What sorts of groups will benefit from MessyBoard the most? What kinds of activities does MB best support?

51 Research Plan Dependencies Deploy MB 1 Initial Exploration Build And Test MB 2 Design MB User Interface Complete MB 2 Architecture Deploy MB 2 Contextual Inquiry Deploy MB 1 Initial Exploration Build And Test MB 2 Design MB User Interface Complete MB 2 Architecture Deploy MB 2 Contextual Inquiry

52 Research Plan Timeline Deploy MB 1 Build And Test MB 2 Design User Interface Complete Architecture Deploy MB 2 Contextual Inquiry Write Thesis Document May 2003Sept. 2003Jan 2003May 2004 Initial Exploration

53 Contributions A Novel Software System –Screen Saver –History Converging evidence for the utility of the system Design Guidelines for 2D Collaborative Spaces Solutions to Common Communication Problems Design knowledge for integration into people’s lives

54 Summary Goals –Reduce costs of communication –Make communication more enjoyable Approach –Bulletin-board medium –Solutions to specific problems –Integrate into people’s lives Research Strategy –Build and distribute MessyBoard –Ethnographic observations –Activity logs

55 Acknowledgements My Committee Belinda Chang, Dennis Cosgrove, Jason Pratt Tiffany Pomarico and Mike Darga Andrew Faulring Cedar Reiner and Evan Rapoport Peter Scupelli The Stage3 Research Group The Proffitt Perception Lab John Stasko Saul Greenberg Elaine Huang

56

57 Medium Integration: Projection, Screen Saver Reduce Cost?More Enjoyable? Aspects Questions

58 Measuring Reduced Costs of Communication B A Park 1 st Street 2 nd Street 3 rd Street 4 th Street 5 th Street 6 th Street 7 th Street 8 th Street 7 th Street 8 th Street 9 th Ave 10 th Ave 11 th Ave 12 th Ave 13 th Ave Pond

59 Laboratory Study: Medium Reduces Cost of Communication

60 Laboratory Study: Medium Reduces Cost of Communication Control Experimental

61 Laboratory Study: Medium Makes Communication More Enjoyable Task ATask BTask C Task D

62 Laboratory Study: Medium Makes Communication More Enjoyable Task ATask BTask C Task D